Interspecies Pregnancy
Interspecies pregnancy occurs when at least one parent, either male or female, possesses the hyperseeder trait. How this trait manifests itself during fertilization and the pregnancy depends on which of the parent posses the hyperseeder trait. In pregnancies where the hyperseeder trait comes from the male parent, at the moment of fertilization the sperm cell emits a genetic marker to the egg, which, when transformed into a zygote, emits this marker immediately to all other sperm cells within the womb during intercourse. Upon receiving this marker, all sperm cells are then compelled towards the uteran wall, where, after making contact, inject their RNA into the wall, where it passes into the mother's blood stream. The RNA quickly seeks out T-Cells, and bonds to them immediately. By doing so, this prevents the mother's immune system from registering the xeno embryo as a threat, and instead a natural part of the mother's body. Once the primary threat of the mother's immune system is nullified, the xeno RNA then begins to seek out red blood cells to bond to, which then begin to spread throughout her body through the circulatory system where they eventually wind up back in her bone marrow. Because this process is gradual, and the immediate threat to the xeno embryo is both the genetically hostile environment and immune system of its mother, during the transitional period of the mother's body into a more genetically compatible state, the xeno embryo, in its earliest stages, subsists primarily on nutrients found in the father's semen, rather than from the mother herself, which are absorbed through the embryonic wall. This takes the burden of feeding nutrients to the offspring off of the mother's body during genetic transition, and is the primary reason why males of species with the hyperseeder trait produce such a large amount of ejaculate, relative to the number of sperm cells in said ejaculate. Once primary genetic transition is complete within the mother's body, and the mother's bone marrow then becomes infused with xeno RNA, the mother's body begins to produce red blood cells that are genetically compatible with her alien offspring, regulating oxygen safely for both her and her baby. At this stage of the pregnancy, the mother's body is no longer by reliant on the original xeno RNA from the father's sperm cells to ensure her baby's survival. Rather, any new cells created during this period within the mother's body are now genetically compatible with the xeno offspring, and the mother's body becomes self sufficient in both regulating her vital functions and nurturing the growing alien offspring within her womb. Finally, at the end of term, when the mother's body is completely infused with xeno RNA, the milk glands in her breasts begin to create genetically compatible milk for the soon to be born offspring. Once pregnancy ends, the RNA is flushed out of her body in two main ways - the amniotic fluid, which is flushed out of her body during birth, and through simple waste disposal. It can take two to four terran weeks for the alien RNA to be flushed out of her system, as, while her body begins to create cells within her that are genetically compatible to her original genome, the lingering RNA found in her older cells must be allowed to run their course, only breaking down at the end of their natural cellular life cycle, and disposed of through her digestive system. Both the length of this process and when at what point it begins after childbirth is dependent on how often the mother expunges waste and how often she breast feeds. So long as breast feeding occurs, whether through natural means, i.e., breast feeding her offspring, or artificial means, i.e., using a breast pump, stimulation of the milk glands causes them to constantly produce more milk, which requires more alien RNA infused cells. The mother's body only stops producing alien RNA altered cells completely after breast feeding has ceased for at least ten terran days. In pregnancies where the hyperseeder carrier is the mother, the trait manifests, for all intents and purposes, immediately. The mother's body simply reacts and alters itself, at the genetic level, to her offspring's alien DNA, rather than being acted upon by hyperseeder sperm cells to alter her body for her. During the pregnancy, from the earliest stage when the egg is fertilized into a zygote, to the final stage right when the mother is ready to give birth, at no point is the embryo in any danger whatsoever from the mother's immune system, as whatever alien DNA the offspring possesses is processed by the hyperseeder receptors in her T-cells as an incorporation of the mother's original genome, and reacts to the embryo as being a natural part of the mother's body. At the point of the pregnancy where the embryo has reached the fetal stage, and becomes properly attached to the mother's body via umbilical cord, the vast majority of her red blood cells transition genetically to a safer, compatible state as they pass from the mother to the xeno offspring as hyperseeder receptors within the red blood cells detect and react to the embryo's genetic code. As they travel throughout the mother's body, these adapted cells eventually make their way to the mother's bone marrow, where her body then starts to produce cells, based on the incorporated xeno RNA, perfectly compatible with both herself and her baby, allowing her milk glands to produce safe milk for her offspring to drink. In situations where both parents possess the hyperseeder trait, the pregnancy's term is much less stressful on the mother's body, as RNA in the father's hyperseeder sperm cells are assimilated by the mother's own hyperseeder reactors in her T-cells and red blood cells at both a higher concentration and faster pace, allowing her body to react and adapt to the baby's xeno genetic code at a much greater efficiency than it normally would. During intercourse, the male parent's hyperseeder sperm cells still receive the same genetic marker moments after fertilization, and still inject their RNA into the female parent's uteran wall. However, rather than requiring the RNA to seek out the mother's T-cells first to nullify the threat of a hostile immune system, all of the father's xeno RNA is instantly attracted to any and all cells in the mother's bloodstream simultaneously, as the threat of the mother's immune system is non-existent. This occurrence greatly reduces the amount of time it requires the mother's body to begin producing genetically compatible cells, as the large influx of xeno RNA-infused cells break down at a much greater volume in the mother's bone marrow, which in turn allows her body to begin producing compatible cells at a much greater pace. And because the embryo, during this process, is also getting practically all of its nutrients from its father's semen, the mother's body needs to spend little, if any, energy on bringing nutrients to the embryo during this extremely brief period of genetic transition, streamlining the process even further.Category:Setting Category:Project PASIPHAE